Douglas and King Architects, 148-150 Curtain Road, London (2026)

21/07/2026

Ashfield Nursery is a development of eight family homes designed for a regional developer who shares our belief that new housing should do more than maximise numbers.

Inspired by the simplicity of traditional farm buildings, the architecture combines pitched forms, robust natural materials and honest proportions with a contemporary approach rooted in its rural setting.

Brick, black timber and slate are paired with carefully framed openings, generous volumes and abundant natural light. Double-height entrances and considered views create atmosphere through space, proportion and daylight rather than decoration.

Every element has been carefully considered, with complexity removed wherever it wasn’t needed. The result is architecture that feels calm and effortless, despite the rigorous thought behind it.

Delivered through close collaboration with the client and their interior designer, the homes demonstrate how architecture and interiors can work together to create a coherent and welcoming environment.

Architecture rooted in place. Designed with discipline. Built to last.

13/03/2025

Contemporary Houses Float Above the River

Creating authentic architecture involves a careful balance of many design drivers and does not always result in a vernacular solution. Sometimes the quirky nature of a site with unusual characteristics and constraints drives the design of a contemporary building.

Our project for three new houses by the Thames in Buckinghamshire has been submitted for planning following an extensive design process involving input from numerous specialist consultants. The land for the new houses is ecologically sensitive and also falls within a flood risk area. To mitigate this, new houses have been designed that sit above flood risk levels on stilts.

At this location, following recent flood prevention engineering works nearby, the flood risk is very low, however we are designing for the worst case scenario in order to overcome 1 in 100 year flood events. Buildings on flood risk areas would have traditionally been built over podium decks lifting the ground floors above the flood levels, however, environment agency guidelines today require us to design buildings that do not displace flood waters and hence the buildings are elevated on stilts so waters would flow under and around the new buildings in a flood event. A vernacular solution would look very odd sitting on stilts and therefore a contemporary design approach is adopted.

Whilst the buildings are very modern in form and appearance, materials and finishes are carefully selected from the local pallet found through an analysis of the nearby architectural inheritance.

A landscaping proposal leads the design with native tree planting, ponds and other planting features that lead to a positive impact on biodiversity across the land.

24/02/2025

We are currently working on several projects that reimagine brownfield sites on sensitive greenfield locations within London’s extensive Greenbelt.

When we design new small communities in rural locations we work to capture the spirit of place in the same way we do for developments in an urban setting. An analysis of the history of a site is critical in understanding the cultural evolution of place, spanning back at least 2000 years. An investigative design process informs the design of buildings and their setting to create authentic and appropriate additions to the landscape.

This project replaces a set of derelict industrial buildings with 8 new houses with enhanced landscaping that includes large areas of communal parkland, including a new lake along with large private gardens. The proposal is based on the layouts of local farmsteads. Each house is designed independently using a common kit of parts. This allows us to design houses that respond to their unique location on the site in terms of outlook, materiality and massing. As this site is sloping we are able to use this to our advantage and design houses that are lower in the more prominent locations and higher where they are masked by the surrounding landscape.

Many contractors would prefer template houses, all identical to ease construction, however timber framed construction clad with a variety of finishes taken from the local architectural inheritance, enable efficient construction and unique design. The variety of building types on the site reflect the varied buildings found on farmsteads, all built at different times and for different purposes.

We always work with our clients to understand their business model, our own development appraisal is tracked throughout the project to ensure value for money, profitability of a development, and to proactively anticipate and overcome setbacks in the overall delivery programme.

Whilst many of our commissions are urban, our design methods have been applied in the same way to many rural projects with outstanding results for our clients and the people who live, work and play in the places we create.

16/02/2025

Many contractors would prefer template houses, all identical to ease construction, however timber framed construction clad with a variety of finishes taken from the local architectural inheritance, enable efficient construction and unique design. The variety of building types on the site reflect the varied buildings found on farmsteads, all built at different times and for different purposes.

We always work with our clients to understand their business model, our own development appraisal is tracked throughout the project to ensure value for money, profitability of a development, and to proactively anticipate and overcome setbacks in the overall delivery programme.

Whilst many of our commissions are urban, our design methods have been applied in the same way to many rural projects with outstanding results for our clients and the people who live, work and play in the places we create.

16/02/2025

We are currently working on several projects that reimagine brownfield sites on sensitive greenfield locations within London’s extensive Greenbelt.

When we design new small communities in rural locations we work to capture the spirit of place in the same way we do for developments in an urban setting. An analysis of the history of a site is critical in understanding the cultural evolution of place, spanning back at least 2000 years. An investigative design process informs the design of buildings and their setting to create authentic and appropriate additions to the landscape.

This project replaces a set of derelict industrial buildings with 8 new houses with enhanced landscaping that includes large areas of communal parkland, including a new lake along with large private gardens. The proposal is based on the layouts of local farmsteads. Each house is designed independently using a common kit of parts. This allows us to design houses that respond to their unique location on the site in terms of outlook, materiality and massing. As this site is sloping we are able to use this to our advantage and design houses that are lower in the more prominent locations and higher where they are masked by the surrounding landscape.

07/02/2025

Found Space in Historic Islington

We are regularly asked by our developer clients to design their own homes. This project in central Islington converts a former and derelict mews stables building in a key Islington Conservation Area into a spectacular London home for one of our long term clients. The mews is found by walking through a hidden street under one of the Georgian buildings leading to a large urban space dominated by multiple mature gardens enveloped on all sides by terraces. The gardens have merged and evolved into a 21st Century city centre nature reserve.

The single story structure was originally built nearly 200 years ago as a row of stables and garages and was converted in the 20th century into workspace. Left derelict for many years, the fabric of the building is being completely stripped back to the original masonry walls, a new steel structure is added and the roof profile reworked to create a new mezzanine level within the new home.

The close proximity of neighbouring homes has meant careful articulation of the new building with courtyards and windows strategically placed to limit overlooking and prevent any loss of daylight or sky component. The Roofscape is articulated and broken up with parapets to follow the grain of the neighbouring properties.

The new home is being built to the highest sustainable standards in construction and in use. Full BIM 2 software is used to model the environment of the building and construction is aligned to all UKGBC standards.

24/01/2025

Sensitive rural setting require sensitive innovative solutions.

24/11/2024

𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐋

Brick Detail from a completed apartment building in Hampstead.

Douglas and King Architects

21/07/2026

13/03/2025

24/02/2025

16/02/2025

16/02/2025

07/02/2025

24/01/2025

24/11/2024

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